


No Other

by pandacheeze



Category: One Piece
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/M, Feels, Happy Ending, OP Film Gold
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-06
Updated: 2016-09-06
Packaged: 2018-08-13 10:22:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 791
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7973398
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pandacheeze/pseuds/pandacheeze
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>[Character spoilers for those who haven't watched the film yet]</p>
<p>After years of slavery in the Celestial Dragon's royal household, Stella is sold to another person.<br/>There's no mistaking those striking lashes and sage green hair.</p>
            </blockquote>





	No Other

**Author's Note:**

> I ship these two so hard after watching the movie. That flashback held a landslide of emotions.

_I'll run away with your footsteps_   
_I'll build a city that dreams for two_   
_And if you lose yourself_   
_I will find you_

"Find You" © Zedd ft. Matthew Koma & Miriam Bryant

 

* * *

 

Stella kneels on the floor with her head hung low, her default position since she had been bought by the Celestial Dragon a decade ago.

He has finally grown bored of her, it seems. One of his men told her that she's been sold to another person. The money has already been paid. What's left is handing her off to the buyer.

Of course, the Celestial Dragon doesn't care to see her off. One servant is assigned to take her to the reception room to give her to her new master. He leads her around by the golden chain connected to her golden collar.

While they're waiting for her owner-to-be to arrive, Stella studies the black granite floor.

Some tiles have veins of gold crisscrossing inside. Even in her weary and hopeless state, she can't help appreciating how beautifully the sparkly streaks contrast against dark rock.

The doors swing open, but Stella remains in her hunched posture. She has no idea who her next owner is, but it's better to play safe by showing fear and respect from the start.

The footsteps of her new master and his entourage echo in the room. Stella places her palms on the floor in front of her before bending forward in supplication until she's almost kissing the granite slab.

The group stops walking and only one set of footsteps, presumably the leader's, continues to approach her at a perceptibly slower pace.

Thick leather soles clop against the tiles, stopping once the person is standing a few feet from her bowed head, shadow looming over her.

Stella awaits her first order. Or abusive kick.

It doesn't matter, really. A slave is a slave.

Then she sees movement on the floor. At first, she thinks it's her owner's reflection, but then she sees these strange flashes.

The streaks of gold in the granite slabs are moving!

She pushes up from the ground a bit to get a better look at what's happening. Golden veins crawl out from the black tiles and slither on the surface. They rearrange themselves into letters.

 

**Look up, Stella**

 

She does just that, and finds an exceptionally tall man. Her eyes trail up his lavish clothes and come to a halt at his face.

 

_It can't be... It's impossible!_

 

But there's no mistaking those striking lashes and sage green hair.

 

"Gild?"

 

He crouches down close in front of her and collects her frail hands into his own, smiling until his eyes are reduced to twin arcs.

That boyish Gild from her memory has grown so big, bigger than she could have ever imagined. They're both on the ground, but he easily towers over her relatively tiny frame. Plus he seems to have gotten some bizarre element-bending powers.

"I told you that I'd buy you freedom one day, remember?" he says, that megawatt smile never faltering.

Stella can't believe that he's held that promise after all these years. Her breath hitches and her eyes well up, but Gild is quick to offer her a linen handkerchief.

"Come on. Let's go."

Then he loops his arms with hers and leads them to the door along with his troupe.

She's finally leaving this hell hole, isn't she?

 

* * *

 

Back in the master chamber of the Gran Tesoro floating casino, Gild reminds her once more that he is no longer that sixteen-year-old boy who blushed when she asked if he liked her or not through rusted bars. He's now a full-grown adult with confident hands that roam the curves beneath her bathrobe with purpose.

"Gild. Wait," she says softly.

 

He freezes, hands retreating from her skin, expression a crossover between confusion and hurt.

 

"You don't... like me anymore?" he asks in a disheartened manner, and it's such a comical sight to see this walking wall of muscle blinking in uncertainty.

 

Stella almost laughs at the question. Has he forgotten how glad she was when they met earlier today?

"No, Gild. It's not about you. It's me."

She can't help how her voice wavers.

"I-I'm not the same. I'm dirty. I'm-"

Used. Spent. Raped repeatedly by other male slaves or worse, the Celestial Dragon's pet animals, as some sort of past-time show for him and his equally sick guests.

Her train of thought is disrupted by a fingertip on her lips.

"Stella, babe, I don't care. You're still and will always be the one I love. Nothing's ever going to change that."

Upon hearing his declaration, she cries without reserve this time. Gild merely chuckles before pulling her into an embrace with a kiss on her forehead.

 


End file.
